The UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority has fined Citigroup $78.5 million (61.6 million pounds) over a series of controls failing that “crystallized into trading incidents.”
The worst of the incidents occurred in May 2022 when Citi processed a $58 million order as a $444 billion order. This prompted $1.4 billion in mistaken sell orders, the regulators determined. Although the immediate cause of the error was a “fat-finger” error, or a trader’s mistake, the PRA said it was “primary control failings” that led to the problematic orders.
“Firms involved in trading must have effective controls in place in order to manage the risks involved,” said Sam Woods, CEO of the PRA and the Bank of England’s deputy governor for prudential regulation. “CGML failed to meet the standards we expect in this area, resulting in today’s fine.”
